From the desk of the curator
Click here to read a message from Curator Melody Pope.
conferences
Midwest Archaeology Conference (MAC)
This year’s MAC was held at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Several GBL staff presented research on the Bicentennial dig at the Wylie House, including Liz Watts Malouchos and Maclaren Guthrie.
Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM)
Director April Sievert and Librarian Kelsey Grimm, IU NAGPRA Director Jayne-Leigh Thomas, and program manager and former NAGPRA research fellow Teresa Nichols went to the 2018 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Read Kelsey’s post about NAGPRA in archives!
Southeastern Archaeology Conference (SEAC)
Curator Melody Pope attended the 75th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Augusta, Georgia. Pope, along with colleague Paul Welch, presented results of their recent research that involves replicating and using microdrills to study the wear patterns that develop on drill bits used to bore holes in fluorite, cannel coal, and marine shell. This newly-launched collaborative research project between Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and the GBL at IU uses experimental archaeology to interpret the Fluorite Workshop at the Kincaid site located in the lower Ohio Valley.
Collections news
Save America’s Treasures Grant
In September 2018, the GBL was awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant to rehabilitate and rehouse about 2.8 million artifacts from Angel Mounds over the next 3 years. These grants are administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The “Curating Angel” project will allow us to provide safe, long-term preservation of the artifacts and associated documentation from archaeological work at Angel Mounds and make these collections more accessible for research and education. Keep checking our website for up-to-date information as we officially launch the project in January 2019!
More about IMLS: The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities.
GLOVE Digitizing – Shawnee THDS
Selena McCracken was hired at the end of January 2018 to digitize the Shawnee Tribal History Document Series (THDS) of the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley Ethnohistory Collection. This was done as part of a contract established with the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and an IMLS grant. As of September, Selena finished digitizing the series, amassing 12,603 images that will be made viewable online via the finding aid.
Kellar Papers Processing and Rehousing
Bill Koester worked on processing and rehousing the collection of Dr. James Kellar, a noted archaeologist and the first director of Indiana University’s Glenn Black Lab. Read more about his work on his blog!
Summer news
Wylie House Excavations
Over the summer, the GBL continued work at the Wylie House as part of IU’s celebration of the upcoming bicentennial. Students involved in the dig posted weekly updates on our blog, find them here!
Angel Mounds Historic Marker
Over the summer, a marker was erected at the Angel Mounds Historic Site to recognize Glenn Black for his contribution to Indiana archaeology and to Angel Mounds.
Exhibits
Out With the Old: “Containing Knowledge: Ceramics at the GBL”
Exploring pottery as containers in both literal and metaphorical ways, this exhibit featured a selection of whole pots as well as objects used to make and decorate ceramics. Technology, decoration, use, and cosmology were touched on through the use of beautiful images and pieces. A special section of the exhibit looked at the work of local archaeology students and their efforts to temper clay and build and fire pots in the ways that Mississippian people might have.
The exhibit closed in Summer 2018.
In With the New: “Animal~Spirit~Human”
For Themester 2018, the GBL explores interpretation of the complex and varying relationships between animals and humans in the ancient Midwest. Depictions of animals are known to be among some of the earliest mural and decorative art, for example, the well-known Paleolithic cave art of Europe that depicts now-extinct species. Whether rendered into wood, clay, stone, metal, or shell, animals contribute much to the symbolic and iconographic content of Native American representation.
The exhibit opened in October 2018.
volunteer and student appreciation
Collections: Hannah Ballard, Preet Gill, Darlene McDermott, and Amanda Pavot
Library: Bill Koester, Victoria Kvietek, Selena McCracken, and Brianna McLaughlin
Programming: Hannah Rea
Thank you to all who gave their time this semester!
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